By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

For Matthew Montgomery, a native Charlestonian and for 29 years a builder of custom homes, a brand new life in international trade is beginning at an age when most successful men begin to settle down and think about improving their golf scores.

“I don’t sleep as much as I used to,” laughed Montgomery, 48, when asked how his life has changed since leaving contracting just over a year ago.

Thanks to a common-sense modification to an ordinary contractor’s tool—the carpenter’s level—he may well be poised to take several international markets, including the European Union and Australia, by storm.

All it took was an innocent request from a friend, two years of research and several months of fine-tuning the product while sharpening his knowledge of trade, logistics and government regulations.

Later this month, a factory in China will begin producing the first commercial run of Montgomery levels, and if all goes well at a currently ongoing trade show in Seoul, South Korea, he could have an international distribution deal locked up at the same time.

“Sometimes in a situation like this, things move so quickly that you feel like you can hardly catch your breath,” he said. “Other times, things progress at a snail’s pace. It’s all worth it, though. It never gets dull.”

Up on the roof

Montgomery’s innovative turn on the standard level, which traditionally consists of a bar of some sort embedded with a standard plum-and-level vial, was to add an arch that allows a contractor to quickly and easily measure either the pitch or degree of slope of roofs, decks, patios and even concrete slabs.

If it sounds like something somebody should have thought of years ago, it is, Montgomery admits. But even he took the long way around to getting to it.

“I guess the whole thing really got started as a result of the tsunami in Thailand,” he said. “I had gone over on my own to aid in the recovery effort, and while there I set up a meeting with a materials supplier.”

While the conversation concluded on a positive note, what most captivated Montgomery was the ceiling fan whirling above his head. “They were unlike any ceiling fans I’d ever seen in the United States, and I immediately started to think about how I could import them.”

Montgomery later said the turn of mind from contracting to commerce probably came naturally to him thanks to his father, Edward Rush Montgomery, who owned General Wholesale on John Street before he died when Matthew Montgomery was 12.

“I don’t know that it’s anything he said—not that I recall, anyway—but just the fact that he was in that line of work kind of spurred me on,” Montgomery said.

While importing the fans didn’t come to pass, Montgomery soon found himself with a sideline: selling imported handbags and the like.

Then one day a friend asked if Montgomery would take a look at a section of his roof that might be in need of repair.

“It was one of those instances when you say, ‘OK,’ but you’re really thinking, ‘Now I’ve got to get the ladder out and climb all the way up there to figure out the pitch, and there must be a better way,’” he recalled.

Following the roof incident, that idea wouldn’t let him go.

Experimenting with fluids

Montgomery worked for about four months on the initial design of his level and spent another four months trying to find just the right fluid to ensure accuracy. At the same time, he began attending every class and seminar offered by the South Carolina World Trade Center, he said.

“When I started working on this, all I had was an idea and a desire to follow it through,” he said. “What I’ve learned along the way is that this simple project here is not so simply a project.”

From the SCWTC he learned the ins and outs of logistics, importing, exporting, duties, fees and even what packaging he should use for his products.

The center also provided him with contacts overseas to help him grow his idea into an industry.

“In that regard, (SCWTC’s director of international business development) Melanie Figueiredo has been wonderful,” Montgomery said. “Who knew that in China alone there are over 120 companies that manufacture levels?”

Not that everything always goes smoothly, even with the best assistance. Although his design makes Montgomery levels special, the fluid inside the glass tubes is the critical component.

Montgomery worked long and hard to find a fluid that was reliable at a range of temperatures and an American manufacturer that could supply it. When it came to the manufacturing of the first prototypes, however, the Chinese factory he was working with wanted to try to duplicate the fluid.

They sent seven glass tubes containing their own liquid, while Montgomery tested them against his.

“Unfortunately, theirs just didn’t hold up, either at cold temperatures or hot,” he said.

As a result of his experiment, Montgomery convinced the Chinese factory to make the levels his way. He now intends to export the arched tubes full of the right fluid from the United States and import the completed levels from China.

While in Seoul, Montgomery is meeting with manufacturers of LED technology to try to find a partner to add a light to his level.

As soon as his Mount Pleasant-based operation is fully up and running, Montgomery said he hopes to have a half dozen models on the market.

Aiming at 20% of the market

How lucrative might Montgomery’s level be? While gauging the success of any startup business is something of a guessing game, the U.S. Department of Commerce has reported that 56 million traditionally designed levels were imported into the United States last year, and 52 million were imported into the country the year before that.

“I want to capture 20% of that market,” Montgomery said.

Before he can do that, however, he realizes that he needs to build a company from scratch.

“That’s one reason I don’t sleep very well,” he said. “I’m constantly thinking, trying to figure out how not to make mistakes. Granted, mistakes will be made, but hopefully they’ll be minor mistakes. You know, I liken starting this business to my former career. I can build a house backwards and forwards, but I know at some point I have to hire a plumber and an electrician and so forth to garner their expertise.

“Where I’m at now in the level business is very much like that. The difference is that instead of hiring plumbers, I’m looking to hire salespeople and office personnel.”

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.

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